Washington, D.C. The National Immigration Forum supports congressional efforts to deter terrorism through effective immigration policy changes. Last week bipartisan legislation, the "Enhanced Border Security Act," was introduced by Sens. Kennedy (D-MA) and Brownback (R-KS) in the Senate and Reps. Conyers (D-MI) and Cannon (R-UT) in the House of Representatives. National Immigration Forum Deputy Director Angela Kelley observed, "The legislation takes careful aim at improving our national security through changes to our immigration system without pulling up the drawbridge and isolating America."

The Forum has developed a number of recommendations for effective reform while maintaining America's proud tradition as a nation of immigrants. Many of the recommendations below are included in the proposed legislation.

• Intelligence is Key – All federal law enforcement agencies collect the names of person who should not be admitted to the U.S. or who should be pulled aside for additional questioning. For this information to be as effective as possible, intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies must share the latest intelligence among themselves, consolidate their lists, and update the information as soon as possible after it is obtained.

• Make Travel Documents More Secure – The U.S. should issue visas and other travel documents using technological advancements to make documents tamper-proof, to ensure identities are verified accurately. Machine readable visas with digitized photos of the visa holder and machine readable passports issued by foreign governments would enable us to determine whether the person the passport was issued to, the person who obtained a visa, and the person entering the U.S. are the same individual.

• Consular Offices: The First Line of Defense – Those seeking legal entry to the U.S. must obtain a visa at a consulate office. Currently, the personnel charged with examining visa applicants tend to be junior staff. They often operate with outdated information, and focus their screening efforts on weeding out those who might overstay the time period on their visas. In light of the September 11th attacks there are several changes that should take place in the screening process so that there is less emphasis on weeding out intending immigrants and more emphasis on spotting potential terrorists. The adjudication of visas might be better accomplished through a dedicated consular corps (similar to the expertise of the INS asylum officer corps) specializing in evaluating visa applications. Also, the expectations of visa applicants will have to change as we must require a more thorough background check and consequentially will not be able to issue visas on the spot.

• Immigration Checks Abroad: Added Layers of Security – In some high-volume airports abroad, U.S. immigration checks are performed at the point of departure. That is, a passport is inspected and the name is run against the lookout list before the individual boards a plane to the U.S. A system for screening for inadmissible persons at the point of departure allows more time for inspection-and increases the likelihood of a more thorough check-than is possible when a plane-load of passengers gets off the plane in the U.S. An expansion of these pre-inspection sites to other high-volume airports should be considered.

• A North American System – The United States must employ multilateral strategies in all aspects of combating terrorism, not the least of which is partnering with Canada and Mexico in creating a North American perimeter that will bolster security through law enforcement coordination, intelligence sharing, and better joint use of enforcement resources. Closer cooperation with our North American neighbors might include a better understanding of our mutual security concerns, so that those issues are taken into account in the issuance of visas and in the asylum process. Such coordination and cooperation would reduce the chance that someone wishing to harm the U.S. would travel to one of our neighboring countries and then cross by land to the U.S.

• Sharing Passenger Lists – Airlines know in advance who will be flying to and from the U.S. through their reservation system. As travelers prepare to board a plane, they must identify themselves to the airline. Requiring airlines to submit this information would give U.S. authorities an opportunity to compare the passenger list to their lookout lists. In this way, those who should not be permitted to enter the U.S., or those who are wanted for criminal activity can be prevented from entering, or apprehended while attempting to enter or leave

• Exit/Entry Systems – Every individual who comes into a U.S. airport must be inspected by immigration officers, where the entry is recorded. Airlines collect a boarding pass from the person as he or she departs the U.S. Some airlines, but not all, have automated the collection of information from the boarding pass and forward the information to the U.S. government. When the government receives information on persons leaving the U.S., it can compare the information with those who have entered, and determine whether a person is leaving within the time allowed by his or her visa. Implementation of this system has been left to the voluntary compliance of airlines. The funding and implementation of such a system to collect information on departing passengers for all of our airports and for all airlines should be provided by the federal government. Expansion of such a system to land border points of entry is more problematic as it could threaten the extensive cross border commerce the U.S. economy heavily relies upon.

• Monitoring Foreign Students and Trainees – Over the last several years, the INS has been working with colleges and universities to develop a timely system to collect information electronically on the status of foreign students. The system tracks information used to determine whether or not students are abiding by the terms of their visas. Currently, the system is only beginning to be implemented, as an operational prototype with 21 educational institutions. Funding should be provided by Congress to get the system, called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, up and running in all schools authorized to enroll foreign students.

• Monitoring Foreign Workers – Just as schools are required to report on the status of their foreign students, companies who employ foreign workers on temporary visas could be required to report on the status of those workers. Information provided by companies that hire these individuals would be useful in determining whether these workers are complying with the terms of their visas. As with the student monitoring system, the benefits of such a system must be weighed against the cost of implementation and address concerns about potential violations of privacy and civil liberties.

• Monitoring Schools with Foreign Students – Currently, there are approximately 74,000 schools authorized by the INS to enroll foreign students. Once a school obtains permission from the INS to enroll foreign students, there is little monitoring of that school. The government might consider more closely monitoring schools, to ensure they are complying with the obligations they must meet to enroll foreign students.

• Stricter Laws Governing Document Fraud – Currently, counterfeit identification documents can be easily bought from companies that manufacture them and advertise their sale. We may need to examine our laws regarding the selling of fraudulent documents, to close loopholes and increase punishment.

For a more detailed set of recommendations please visit http://www.immigrationforum.org/currentissues/articles/120101_sept11.htm